Just as Phainon stood with his sword sheathed, and the surrounding data fragments had not yet fully dissipated—
Buzz!!!
Without warning, the space of the entire Simulated Universe emitted an overwhelmed wail, and everything in sight—
The metal corridors, the indicator lights, and even the light itself—distorted and shattered violently like images on a water surface after a stone was thrown!
Stella and Stelle only felt their vision blur as their bodies were swept away and pulled by an irresistible force of rules.
The next moment, the sensation of the world spinning disappeared, and they found themselves in a completely unfamiliar "domain."
There was no concept of up, down, left, or right here; beneath their feet was nothingness, yet it felt as if they were stepping on solid "concepts."
The surroundings were filled with an ultimate sense of oppression that made the soul tremble and instinctively want to flee—
It was pure, undisguised will of destruction, like thick darkness soaking every inch of the virtual space.
Dim nebulae rotated slowly, their core being a dark red glow symbolizing the end.
And at the center of this imagery of destruction, a silent figure, so massive it was hard to fully capture visually, with unquenchable dark-gold flames burning around its body and a hideous piercing scar on its chest, floated quietly.
The Aeon of Destruction, Nanook.
He made no movement, nor did He even cast a physical "gaze," but the declaration of the end of all things originating from His very existence was enough to make any fragile-minded being collapse instantly.
However, at this moment, His indifferent "gaze," which seemed forged from stars, appeared to bypass Stella and Stelle, locking firmly onto Phainon in front of them.
Phainon's body trembled slightly, not from fear, but from a monstrous rage suppressed to the extreme, about to burst forth.
His face was distorted by extreme emotion, his teeth clenched as he stared at Nanook with eyes that seemed to want to swallow him alive; the hatred and determination contained within actually managed to briefly contend with the surrounding aura of destruction.
[Wonderful! Perfect! Successfully attracted the Aeon's 'Gaze'! Data collection efficiency has broken through the peak!]
Herta's excited voice rang out in their consciousness, but at this moment, none of the three had the heart to listen to the joy of this scientific research fanatic.
They were facing a "phenomenon" of cosmic proportions.
"Partner..."
Phainon's voice was hoarse, as if squeezed from the depths of his throat.
He panted heavily, forcibly withdrawing some of that hideous expression that was almost burning him up, and turned his head with difficulty to look at Stella behind him.
His gaze was incredibly complex, containing gratitude, determination, apology, and even a sense of relief at his impending death.
Stella's heart pounded wildly; she could feel the fire of grief and indignation within Phainon's body that was on the verge of exploding, enough to incinerate stars, and she could also feel a fateful, life-and-death connection between him and the incarnation of destruction ahead.
She didn't speak, but simply took a step forward, pressing her hand firmly onto Phainon's shoulder, which was as hard as iron due to tension, and nodded heavily and firmly.
Everything was understood without words.
The corners of Phainon's mouth twitched, revealing a smile mixed with endless bitterness and gratitude, like a warm current beneath the winter ice.
"Thank you, partner. Thank you for giving me this chance."
His voice was very soft, yet it carried a weight of a thousand pounds.
After speaking, he resolutely turned his head back, and all his expressions were once again swallowed by that sky-burning fire of rage.
With a low roar, his figure was like an arrow leaving a bow, launching a desperate charge towards that incarnation of destruction!
Every step he took on the void exploded with a ripple of golden-red energy.
He ran frantically, the distance closing in an instant, yet feeling eternally long.
After confirming that he was far enough from Stella and Stelle so they wouldn't be affected—
"Boom—!!!"
Phainon's entire body, from the inside out, burst with an unimaginably brilliant radiance!
It wasn't an ordinary flame; it was the burning of conviction, the manifestation of sacrifice, the roar of the final embers of a civilization!
Blazing white and golden-red flames engulfed him, and the terrifying energy fluctuations caused the entire virtual domain of destruction to begin vibrating and cracking!
Within the flames, his form underwent an earth-shattering transformation—taller, more inhuman, with a pair of tattered wings made of pure light and fire unfolding behind him, and the greatsword "invading dawn" also turned into a judgment blade flowing like lava.
Divine Calamity · Khaslana!
The final and most resolute form of Amphoreus's Deliverer!
"NA—NOO—K—!!!"
A deafening roar tore through the silence of space, saturated with the wails of billions of living beings and the unyielding will of a world.
Phainon, transformed into Divine Calamity, became an ignited star of vengeance, crashing toward that symbol of destruction at a speed beyond imagination!
"I have brought destruction for you—!!!"
In this final charge, within his body, four hundred million tiny "embers" carrying hope and memory were simultaneously ignited and sacrificed!
His entire being completely transformed into a spear of light, condensed to the extreme and so blindingly white it couldn't be looked at directly, carrying the ultimate will to incinerate all existence, including himself, as he crashed into Nanook without hesitation!
This was a strike that transcended the conventional combat logic of the Simulated Universe, an ultimate venting of an "Emanator" level being using their own existence as fuel!
It was anger, it was questioning, it was despair, and it was... a faint light born from facing death.
BOOM—!!!!
An indescribable collision occurred.
There was no sound, or the sound was so massive it exceeded the simulation's threshold.
There was only an all-consuming blazing white, and the seemingly eternal dark-gold flames around the Aeon of Destruction underwent an extremely subtle, momentary disturbance.
The light dissipated.
Nanook's body, seemingly composed of the unchanging concept of destruction, still stood towering, as indifferent as ever.
Only on the side of His inhuman face did a crack appear, so minute it was almost negligible, like a strand of hair.
An extremely faint blazing white ember, different from the flames of destruction, flickered for an instant at the edge of that crack before being swallowed by the surrounding dark gold.
Insignificant.
For Nanook, this perhaps didn't even count as a "scar," and it recovered to its original state in an instant.
And Phainon, who had launched this strike that burned everything, could no longer maintain his Divine Calamity form. The light vanished completely, and having returned to human form, he fell toward the bottomless abyss like a bird with broken wings, his energy extinguished.
He closed his eyes, as if all his anger, sadness, and strength had been completely released and burned out in that one strike.
The Aeon of Destruction, Nanook, remained silent.
His indifferent "gaze" seemed to lower slightly, staring at the falling figure without joy or sorrow, as if merely observing the process of an ember destined to be annihilated.
[Ah—?! How... how is this possible?!]
Herta's exclamation finally rang out again, this time filled with extreme shock and disbelief, her voice even cracking slightly.
[The attack took effect?! Data feedback confirmed! Although the energy level difference is like a spark compared to a supernova, it actually caused a transient disturbance and a minute amount of data damage to the Aeon's conceptual defense! Someone... attacked an 'Aeon' and left a 'mark'?! Even if it's a simulation... this, this...]
Her voice was somewhat incoherent due to over-excitement and high-speed calculations, which was practically a miracle for the always calm Herta.
"Phainon!"
Stella and Stelle cried out at the same time.
Stelle reacted faster; the power of the Path of Trailblaze allowed her to walk as if on solid ground in the void, bursting with astonishing speed in an instant to catch Phainon just before he fell into the deeper layers of nothingness.
The massive impact force made her groan, and she knelt on one knee on the invisible "ground," her arms holding Phainon going numb and nearly dislocating.
"Hiss... that hurts!"
Stelle grimaced and freed one hand to rub her shoulder which had almost been ruined, then let out a sigh of relief as she looked at Phainon in her arms, who had fainted and had a weak but still present aura.
"Good, he's still here..."
However, before they could catch their breath.
The space of the entire Simulated Universeunderwent an unprecedentedly violent upheaval once again!
This time, it wasn't the expansion of the domain of destruction, but several completely different yet equally supreme and majestic wills forcibly intervening in this area!
On the left, an infinite, indestructible amber barrier quietly emerged, cold and silent, yet carrying eternal promises and weight—Preservation, Qlipoth.
On the right, warm radiance filled with infinite vitality and a distorted desire for growth fell, carrying compassion and an eerie temptation—Abundance, Yaoshi.
Above, an arrow trajectory as fast as thought and peerlessly sharp pierced through space, carrying an unquenchable fire of The Hunt, Lan.
And the "liveliest" was a layered, joyful laughter filled with the sense of a successful prank coming from a certain direction, where a giant mask phantom with constantly changing expressions loomed, Aha.
However, this one's "gaze" seemed more focused on curiously sizing up Stella and Stelle, especially Stella.
The "gazes" of four Aeons, almost simultaneously with Nanook, focused here!
The "simultaneous arrival" of five Aeons, even if they were just projections within the Simulated Universe, brought a flood of information and rule conflicts that instantly exceeded the load limit Herta had preset for this test!
[Warning! Computing power overload! Aeon data models generating unknown interactions! Logic conflict! Stability declining sharply!]
The piercing alarm blared in the ears of Herta, Stella, and Stelle.
[Too many! Five at once! The Simulated Universecan't hold on!]
Herta's voice carried a rare exasperation and a hint of panic.
The next second, Stella and Stelle felt a powerful repulsive force, and their consciousness was crudely "ejected" from the Simulated Universe like fish being thrown out of the water.
Their vision went black, then bright again, and they had returned to the reality of Herta's office, their bodies still in the same posture as when they were connected.
And the heavy feeling in Stelle's arms also vanished instantly—Phainon's figure did not return with them; he remained in that virtual world on the brink of collapse, and as the Simulated Universe malfunctioned, his data body dissipated as well.
"Sizzle—Bang!"
On the massive Simulated Universe main control terminal in front of them, several screens simultaneously exploded with large areas of garbled code and static; the indicator lights flashed frantically before going out one by one, and a few interfaces even emitted small electrical sparks and a scorched smell.
The entire terminal emitted a low, overwhelmed hum and then went completely silent, with only wisps of green smoke curling up.
The office was in a mess, with alarm lights flashing.
The Herta Puppet standing before the console showed, for the first time, an extremely obvious look of frustration and unwilling resentment on her delicate face. She looked at the smoking host, gritting her teeth:
"Dammit...! Just a little more! Such precious interaction data from multiple Aeons appearing simultaneously! So many unknown variables! To think at a time like this... computing power was insufficient?! This is... simply outrageous!!"
She suddenly turned toward Stella and Stelle, who had just regained consciousness and were still dazed, the light in her electronic eyes frighteningly sharp: "You two! Especially you, Stella! Immediately, right now, give me a detailed report of all sensory details inside! Don't leave out a single thing! And all the information on that 'Phainon'!"
Stella and Stelle exchanged a glance, simultaneously sensing a "crisis" even more terrifying than facing a simulated Aeon—
The raging fire of a genius whose desire for research had exploded and who had just encountered a major experimental accident.